Portuguese sailors reach Mina de Ouro on the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) and explore Cape St. Catherine, two degrees south of the equator. Mina de Ouro becomes the chief center for the gold trade and a major source of revenue for the crown.

Moorish exiles from Spain, led by Moulay Ali Ben Moussa Ben Rached El Alami, found the city of Chefchaouen in the north of Morocco.